Courtney Glass and the Face of Evil
by Luke Mason
Summary: In her second year of Hogwarts, Courtney Glass faces a Dark, evil presence that whispers within the school. Something is controlling the students, reawakening spells that have long since ended, and may well be bringing about an end to Hogwarts. Courtney and her friends Lynne and Albus will do whatever it takes to figure it out and save their school.
1. Chapter 1: Cold Darkness

Chapter One

Cold Darkness

Author's Note: Courtney Glass and the Face of Evil is the sequel to Courtney Glass and the Castle of Life, found here:  s/10866430/1/Courtney-Glass-and-the-Castle-of-Life. If you have not yet read Castle, do so before you begin Face. That said, for those who _have_ read Castle, welcome back, and thank you for returning to another year in Courtney's life. As always, I hope you enjoy.

Courtney Glass opened the window to allow the two owls to fly inside. Her little owl, Athena, carried a fresh letter - not the same one that Courtney had sent out. The other owl, Courtney recognized as one of Hogwarts's own, the same one that had carried her acceptance to Hogwarts a year ago.

After wishing the large owl off, Courtney took both of the letters that they carried. The Hogwarts owl had brought with him another message from the school, letting her know the supplies that she would need for the upcoming school year. The letter Athena brought back was from Courtney's close friend Lynne Ibrams.

Over the summer, Courtney and Lynne had kept in touch, as well as maintaining contact with their _other _best friend, Albus Potter. At various times, Athena had stayed over at the others' homes while their owls, Wan Shi Tong and Hedwidgeon, had been at Courtney's.

_Second-year students will require:_

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 2) _by Miranda Goshawk…_

Courtney finished the list and saw nothing particularly out of the ordinary. Like last year, the books were standard enough that Mum's older copies from her school days could suffice for most of them. She took a look at the letter Lynne sent.

_Hey, Courtney!_

_Did you get the list of school supplies for this year yet? I just got it yesterday, and my parents and I are going to Diagon Alley on Saturday for the supply run._

_By the way, have you seen the _Daily Prophet _lately? The LMM has been all over it the past week, making headlines and everything. Minister Shacklebolt is against them, but they've started a petition to get him to change his mind._

_One last thing: Don't send Wan Shi Tong or Athena to the Potters for at least another week. Albus couldn't give me anything specific, but there's something going on that's making them all uneasy. Bad idea to get involved until we see him and find out what's happening._

_Love,_

_Lynne_

Courtney frowned. The last letter she'd gotten from Albus didn't seem troubling at all. She wondered what could have caused it - normally, the only thing that happens at their home is that one of Albus's _many_ uncles would visit and _occasionally_ stir something up. But it had never been severe enough that she and Lynne had to be warned not to write to Albus for a while.

As for the Light Magic Movement - LMM, for short - Courtney hadn't read about them in the _Daily Prophet_, but she had heard plenty on the Wizarding Wireless Network. The Light Magic Movement was a political group that wanted to repeal the Statute of Secrecy and let the Muggle population know that wizards have been secretly inhabiting their world for centuries. Lynne was against them, but Courtney's friend Elijah was a member. Courtney herself had not yet decided where she stood.

Courtney placed Lynne's letter on top of the small pile of letters Lynne had sent, right next to the pile of letters from Albus. Sure, she never threw these things away, but at least she kept them neat.

Then she picked up the letter from Hogwarts and left her room to show it to her parents. She was not five steps out the door when a sudden chill washed over her whole body. It felt as though the entire room had suddenly dropped at least ten degrees. Freezing.

She went back into her room for a moment to grab her wand. It took a moment for her to mentally go through the spells she had learned in Professor Torrindale's class last year and realize that, no, she didn't know any charms to raise the temperature. She would have to ask about that at some point.

Courtney decided to keep the wand with her anyway, placing it in her right sleeve. Not that it mattered. What difference did it make, whether she had a wand or not? In the grand scheme of things, nothing Courtney ever did would make any difference…

_Wait, what?_ Courtney thought. _Since when do I think like that?_

A mist rolled in front of her, and she saw before her a dark, floating figure wearing a tattered robe. The figure slowly approached, the air around her growing colder and colder as it got closer to Courtney.

There was a Dementor in her house.

Courtney started running in the opposite direction and shouted "Mum! Mum!" The Dementor sped up in its pursuit. By this point it was less floating and more gliding.

Her parents emerged from another room. Mum gasped when she saw the Dementor and reached for her wand. Da did not react; Muggles couldn't see Dementors, only feel the chill and loss of happiness in their presence.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Mum recited while rotating her wand. A silver vapor emerged from the tip of her wand, forming a barrier. She stepped closer to the Dementor. When the vapor touched it, it was pushed back, held at bay by the Patronus Charm. Once the Dementor recovered from the initial shock, it started gliding through the Patronus, far more slowly than before.

"One of those… Dementors is here, isn't it?" Da asked. "The former Azkaban guards?"

"Courtney," Mum said calmly, which was very unusual for her. "This is an incorporeal Patronus. It's not fully effective and it won't last forever. Go contact the Ministry and let them know a Dementor has gone loose. Use the Floo."

Courtney nodded without saying anything, then hurried to the stone fireplace and tossed a small handful of the powder beside it into the flame. "Ministry of Magic!" she called out. A massive, emerald fire shot from the once-ordinary flames and engulfed Courtney's face. It was still room temperature - Floo powder was enchanted to be harmless, for obvious reasons. After doing so, her face was now in a Ministry fireplace, looking at an official. Around her, several other fireplaces were lighting up with images of people's faces.

"Let me guess," the Ministry official said. "A Dementor is loose and attacking your home?"

Courtney nodded, before remembering that he wouldn't be able to see her neck. "Yes. I live at 42 Dalmont Street, in Loughton."

"Thank you for letting us know," the official said. "We will have an Auror at your home shortly. If you or your family has been in extended proximity to the Dementor, make sure to use chocolate to alleviate the effects."

Courtney left the fireplace, and the flames returned to their normal size and color. At once, a wizard in a dark brown robe Apparated into the room, wand in hand. "_Expecto Patronum!_" he called.

A silver turtle leaped forth from his wand and swam into the Dementor. The Dementor retreated, while the turtle continued chasing it outside.

"Thank you," Mum said.

"The person at the Ministry knew about the Dementor," Courtney said. She looked at the Auror. "Is this happening a lot lately?"

"Yes," the Auror said. "Way more than it has in the last twenty years. Don't know why, but don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of it."


	2. Chapter 2: Path to Arrival

Chapter Two

Path to Arrival

On Saturday morning, Courtney and her parents had taken the Floo to Diagon Alley.

Compared to last year, there were far more familiar faces walking the street - the redheaded woman from the Light Magic Movement who had handed them a flyer last year, along with several other members, were now asking passersby for signatures. In the distance, there was a very large figure that Courtney instantly recognized as Professor Hagrid. Mr. Ollivander, who had made Courtney's alder wand, was in his shop doing business with some of this teyear's new Hogwarts students.

And standing in Flourish &amp; Blotts, waving, was Lynne Ibrams.

Courtney was slightly amazed by how different she looked since the end of last year. Her brown hair was far longer, and actually extended onto her robe. She'd also grown at least ten centimeters taller. But her face, every detail of it, remained exactly as Courtney had remembered.

Lynne put a few books into her bag and left the store with her parents and younger brother. Then she strolled up to Courtney.

"Hey," Courtney said. "Everything going alright so far?"

"Yeah," Lynne beamed. "Got all this year's required Potions materials and textbooks - plus a few extra ingredients and books." She opened her bag up to reveal some deep blue feathers sitting beside a copy of _Hogwarts: A History_.

"Wow, classic," Courtney said.

"I know," Lynne said. "I really want to compare what the book says to what we learned last year."

The previous year, Courtney and Lynne had seen the distant past through the memories of Salazar Slytherin. They had learned a lot of surprising information from the Pensieve, particularly that Slytherin was nowhere near as evil as people thought. Courtney had to admit, a book like _Hogwarts: A History_ probably would be the best place to see what others thought about the past.

"You know what I really want to do this year?" Courtney said. "Learn some defensive spells for Dementors."

Lynne's face darkened, losing her once constant smile. "You were attacked too, weren't you?"

"Yeah… So you got one too?"

"Yesterday. It was a nightmare." Lynne shut her eyes. "Neither of my parents could do a full Patronus. By the time we finished trying every defensive spell we knew, my dad ended up having to Apparate us to Diagon Alley. We sent a letter to the Auror Office, but the Dementor's still there now."

"Our house was attacked a couple days before then," Courtney said. "I used the Floo to get help. The people there said there were loads of wizards all over the country with the same problem."

A wizard held a clipboard in front of them. "Would either of you care to sign to show support for the Light Magic Movement?"

"No, thank you," Lynne said instantly. She looked at Courtney. "Dementors aren't exactly the only thing that've been attacking more often lately."

Unlike Lynne, however, there were plenty of people signing the petitions. How many of them were like Lynne's family, stuck in Diagon Alley waiting for someone to clear Dementors from their home? From what Courtney saw, it looked like the people working with the Light Magic Movement were the only ones benefiting from the attacks… attacks that started around the same time as their petition...

"Well, I must be off," Lynne said. With a final wave, she rejoined her family, and Courtney went into Flourish &amp; Blotts.

* * *

In the first morning of September, Courtney and her parents walked through King's Cross Station, approaching the barrier between platforms. Athena was asleep in her cage, barely even disturbed by the movement.

"Try not to miss it this time," Mum was saying to Da.

"I try every time," he pointed out. Then he looked at Courtney. "Now you know the drill. Have a great year, write every week - you may miss three weeks, and no more, and there had better be a good reason why you missed it - and we'll see you again for the holidays."

"Thanks," she said. She gave them each one last hug, then passed through the barrier.

"Drat!" Da exclaimed. Courtney guessed that he missed it yet again.

Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. The old train station that held the familiar sight of the Hogwarts Express. Since it was nearly eleven, the station was busy with the last bunch of students making their way onto the train before it departed.

Courtney entered the train and started walking along the lane, looking in each compartment for Lynne and Albus. One compartment opened just before she passed it.

"Oh, hey Court," said the friendly voice of Elijah Garvin. He was holding a glowing red ball in one hand. "Did you get taller?"

Courtney shrugged, having no real answer. "How have you been?"

"Eh, pretty ragged," Elijah admitted. "A while ago my house was attacked by Dementors. I found out that a lot of wizards have been having that problem, so I tried to see if they've been attacking Muggles too - they do more damage to Muggles, since they can't see them and can't make Patronuses. I can't find anything one way or the other about it, the news is only paying attention to wizards being attacked."

Courtney had to wince at that. When she'd heard about the attacks, she'd never even considered how Muggles might be affected. "Well, maybe it's because Muggles can't see them. So how would we find out if Muggles were being attacked?"

Elijah sighed. "True. The LMM is looking into it, working on a way to keep track of the Dementors and keep them out of the Muggle world."

"Well, that's good, at least," Courtney said. _And if this was affecting Muggles, too… that would be a very good reason to let them know about Dementors' existence._

The train started moving. "Don't let me hold you up," Elijah said. "See you later." He started walking toward the front. Courtney continued going down the compartments until she found the one near the end with Lynne and Albus, as well as Albus's cousin, Rose Weasley.

"There you are," Albus said.

"You want any?" Rose asked, holding out an open Bertie Bott's container.

"Sure." Courtney took a handful and dropped a white one in her mouth, before coughing a bit. "I think that was soap. So, Albus, Lynne said there was something going on at your house, something bad enough that we weren't supposed to send any owls. What happened? Was it a Dementor?"

Albus shook his head. "No. I mean, there was a Dementor, but both my parents can make corporeal Patronuses so it wasn't an issue at all. Long story short, there was a really messy issue going on, and it wasn't safe for owls to be around for a while."

"Their own owls were staying with my family," Rose added.

"Well, as long as it's nothing serious," Lynne said as she leaned back in her seat and took an egg bread flavored bean.


	3. Chapter 3: General Overview

Chapter Three

General Overview

"Later," Albus said as he and Rose went to the Gryffindor table of the Great Hall. Lynne sat down at the Ravenclaw table, while Courtney took her seat across from her at the Hufflepuff table.

There were five distinct sets of children in the hall - the students of each House seated at their tables, and the new first-years who were just now being led inside by the Deputy Headmaster Professor Vander Lochram. At the rear of that group stood the gamekeeper, and Care of Magical Creatures instructor, Professor Rubeus Hagrid.

Once the first-years were all inside the Great Hall and the doors closed, Lochram and Hagrid joined the rest of the staff at the front of the room. Lochram picked up the old Sorting Hat and returned to the first-years. "Allison, Terrence!" he exclaimed in his overly dramatic voice. A young boy walked up to the front, and Lochram placed the Hat on his head.

After a few moments, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Courtney clapped along with the rest of her table as the boy approached his new House. In addition to all of the Hufflepuffs, Courtney noticed that there were still plenty of people from the other three tables clapping for Terrence.

This went on for another several minutes. A roughly even amount to all four Houses got in. Some of them took considerably longer than others; Courtney figured those were cases where they could either fit well in any House, or the children were acting like Courtney had at her Sorting, arguing with the Hat over its decision. Courtney made sure to clap for every single first-year upon their Sorting, including the Slytherins.

When it was through, Headmistress Vector rose from her seat. "Another Sorting has gone smoothly. Welcome, all, to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For our new first-years, my name is Professor Vector, and I am the Headmistress here. Before we begin the welcoming feast, here are this year's announcements.

"Over the summer, the hallway behind the Potions classroom has been repaired, and as such, there is no longer a blanket restriction against students entering said hallway. As a reminder to all students, due to the sheer amount of danger present, the forest on the school grounds, known as the Forbidden Forest, is strictly prohibited for all of you.

"It has been brought to our attention that, despite how much effort was put into their containment, Dementors are now once again attacking wizards all over Britain. Our own Professor Lochram has been attacked no less than fourteen times this summer alone. In order to try and combat this epidemic, Professor Lochram and a specialist from the Ministry, the Auror Harry Potter, will be teaching you all the Patronus Charm this year. The Ministry has decided to temporarily consider the Patronus an authorized spell for use outside of school, for the sake of self-defense.

"That is all. We hope you enjoy the upcoming school year."

Courtney started to eat when two students rose. "Good evening, everyone," one of them, a boy, said. "My name is Dustin and this is Krista, and we are your new Prefects this year. Any troubles, come to us or one of the other Prefects." Krista gestured to the four students sitting beside them; among them were Genale and Lucas, the Prefects who had helped Courtney and the others last year.

* * *

After the welcoming was finished, Courtney went with the rest of her peers to the Hufflepuff common room. Krista explained to the first-years exactly how to open the pathway into the room. While the first-years looked around at the pleasant room that they would be staying in for the next seven years, Courtney went upstairs to the second-year dorm.

In the girls' dorm, only six of Courtney's classmates had already arrived and started unpacking their belongings. Ryssa was rapidly attacking a piece of parchment with a quill while her owl watched overhead. Elizabeth was looking at the class schedules for the week. Tara and Dekka were playing rock-paper-scissors over the bed closest to the window. Sun and Imogen were both sitting and staring into textbooks - one for Charms, the other for Transfiguration. Polaris was walking up the stairs just behind Courtney. Flo, Willow, Rachel, Sadie, Nikki, Chloe, Beatrice, Yasmine, Wendy, Justine, Amber, and Lilah had yet to arrive.

"Is anyone else freaking out about this Dementor thing?" Polaris asked the others. "So many people have already been attacked; what if our families are next?"

"My family already was," Dekka said. "Besides, the Patronus Charm is now legal, even for underage wizards. First thing I'm doing once I can do a Patronus is helping my mas with theirs."

"That sounds reasonable," Courtney said. "You know what, I'm going to do the same. Just in case my parents get attacked again."

"That's right," Imogen realized as she lowered her book. "Just because a Dementor's already shown up and been driven out doesn't mean another one can't come by later."

"Yeah," Ryssa said. "I mean, Professor Lochram got _fourteen_ Dementors already."

"Or one Dementor that came back thirteen times," Tara joked.

"Well, good news," Elizabeth noted. "We won't have to wait long. Our first Defense lesson this year is tomorrow afternoon at one."

"So, just wondering, how many of us were attacked already?" Dekka asked. Every witch in the room, save for Polaris, raised her hand.

"Oh no, I'm totally next!"

* * *

"I've got Defense after this," Courtney told Lynne and Albus at the Great Hall.

"Lucky," Albus said. "The Gryffindor class isn't getting to Defense until Wednesday. Can't wait to learn the Patronus, even if my father's going to be there. You know what I have after this? Potions."

"I've got Herbology," Lynne offered. "Also, at some point I want to talk to Professor Hagrid, and Digrattus, and Karanna, and…"

"Why?" Courtney asked. She knew Lynne wasn't taking any of those classes; all second-years had the same courses.

"We're picking electives at the end of this year," Lynne reminded them. "I want to see what the professors and their classes are like before I choose."

"If it helps, James is taking Care of Magical Creatures and Divination," Albus offered. "And Teddy took Care and Muggle Studies. So, yeah, Care of Magical Creatures is a popular option, at least with my family."

Teddy Lupin, as Courtney knew from her conversations with Albus over the summer, was Albus's… godbrother, if that was a word. His birth parents were a former Defense teacher from back when the position was cursed, and a Metamorphmagus, both of whom had died in the final battle against the Dark Lord Voldemort.

"And speaking of your family," said James Potter as he approached the group. "There you are, Albus. I don't have much time, just remember it's this Saturday at ten sharp!"

Then James darted off, leaving Courtney and Lynne giving Albus a questioning look.

"Yeah," Albus explained. "Now that I'm a second-year, I'm allowed to try out for Gryffindor's Quidditch team. Mason left this year so now Calem's team captain. I'm trying out, no question. Even if I didn't want to, James would find me exactly one hour before tryouts and drag me there."

James owned a Time-Turner, one of very few in magical Britain. Over the course of the previous year, James had used it several times to get his brother's friends out of trouble, and to set them on a wild goose chase.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck," Lynne said with a smile. "You make that team!"

"Thanks," Albus said.


	4. Chapter 4: Preparing the Patronus Charm

Chapter Four

Preparing the Patronus Charm

Henry held the door as the rest of Hufflepuff's second-years entered. Immediately, Courtney noticed that all of the chairs and desks from last year were no longer present. At the edge of the room were Professor Lochram and Harry Potter.

"Is that everyone?" Potter asked.

Amber did a silent headcount. When she was complete, she gave a nod and raised her hand in a thumbs-up position. The rest of the students agreed with her.

"Very well!" Lochram exclaimed. "By now you know what it is that we are learning… The Patronus Charm! Now, Dementors are one of the foulest creatures to inhabit this Earth. They stalk the night and bring with them sheer coldness and a feeling of inescapable dread. They cannot be defeated or killed; even the Patronus can only drive them away. And their greatest and worst weapon, that which lies beneath their hoods, is the Dementor's Kiss. The Kiss will go a step further than anything else, and remove your soul but leave you alive, as an empty, broken shell. There is no cure for the Kiss."

Lochram's normally melodramatic voice had dropped to a smaller, creepier tone to underscore the terror.

"The Kiss has no cure, but the short-term effects do," Potter noted. "Chocolate. That'll take out some of the dread.

"Now, the Patronus Charm is the best defense against a Dementor," he continued. "It's considered highly advanced magic that even adult wizards struggle with. There's a number of reasons for that, but magic is not one of them. Even at your age, you can successfully cast the Patronus. The incantation is _Expecto Patronum_, and you move your wand in a circle while you cast it. The real trouble most people have is that the spell is powered by happiness. In order to cast it, you need to think of a memory - a truly _happy_ memory. The happier the memory, the more likely the Patronus will work. Of course, because of the Dementors around that make you lose all happiness… you can see why this would be a challenge, even for adult wizards."

Courtney remembered the Dementor at her own house. She hadn't felt sad or anything… she just felt empty. She doubted she would have remembered any sort of happiness in that state if she tried.

Potter took out his wand and twirled it in his hand. Lochram revealed his own wand and did the same. "_Expecto Patronum_," they said at once. From the tips of their wands came a silvery light that took the shape of a stag and a leopard standing side-by-side.

"This is what a true, corporeal Patronus looks like," Lochram said. "By the time we move on, we want you to be able to produce something like this. Each Patronus will represent _you_, and in fact a major change in yourself can cause your Patronus to change."

"You may have noticed the desks are gone," Potter explained. "This is because we are not just discussing theory today. We're practicing."

* * *

Courtney concentrated on the Hogwarts Express earlier, of seeing Lynne and Albus and Elijah and Rose for the first time all summer. She started moving her wand and spoke: "_Expecto… Patronum!_"

Nothing happened. Not even the wispy fog of an incorporeal Patronus. Maybe that memory wasn't happy enough…

Last year, Courtney had gone with Lynne and Albus, along with Scorpius Malfoy (and James was there, too), to visit Professor Hagrid. While she was there, a very fragile hippogriff egg had nearly gotten shattered, but, with James's help, Courtney had saved it with a well-timed _Wingardium Leviosa_. Today there was one baby hippogriff on Hogwarts grounds that wouldn't be there if it hadn't been for her. She focused on that moment, of being the one to save the day, and moved her wand again.

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

Still nothing. And all around her, nobody else was having much more luck. Only a couple students - Lilah and Glenn - had managed even an incorporeal Patronus. She thought of another memory. Four voices that she once listened to.

_With the right knowledge, there is nothing any witch or wizard cannot do._

_We can inspire whole generations to be great, without living in fear._

_We have the power to change the world._

_But only if all four of us work together._

Those words came from the Founders of Hogwarts themselves, from Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. Courtney, Lynne, and Albus had watched them in a magic memory last year, when they decided to build Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ This time, there was a small hint of silver light that emerged from the end of her wand… that quickly fizzled out.

"Hey, I saw that," Elijah noted. "Good job."

"Thanks." Courtney knew why the spell had stopped; her mind had raced ahead. She remembered what had happened _afterward_, how Slytherin had fallen. How he had left Hogwarts and murdered the ignorantly evil Muggle Daniel Holtz. How the Founders were never truly united once he had gone.

She tried some more. With each attempt, she focused more on that single moment, and less on what came later. With each attempt, her incorporeal Patronus lasted longer than the last. At this rate…

_No_, she realized, as her Patronus faded again. _At this rate, I'll be like Mum - able to keep an incorporeal Patronus going, but not actually cast the real thing._

She would have to come up with another memory, some time when her happiness was even stronger than when she was with her friends watching the Founders in their finest moment.

Not quite a moment, but a collection of them that all tied together: Every single time that Courtney had been with Lynne and the others, enjoying Every-Flavoured Beans together. It was nowhere near as spectacular as the Founders, but it was a simple happiness.

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

The silver light of the Patronus was even brighter than before, which surprised Courtney, but that didn't make it any more corporeal.

"Alright," Potter said. "Looks like all of you have at least gotten to maintain incorporeal Patronuses. Make sure you keep practicing."

"When next class comes, we can expect a few of you to actually pull off a true Patronus," Lochram said.

The students started walking out the door. Courtney stopped for a moment and looked at Lochram and Potter. Maybe asking would help with her difficulties… "So… what do you two think about? What memory powers your Patronuses?"

"A mighty quest I undertook in Kenya nearly fifteen years ago," Lochram said. "T'was grand, and when I succeeded… But you can hear that story some other time."

That did sound like something Lochram would enjoy. "And you?"

"I?" Potter asked in a fond, nostalgic voice. "I remember myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks."

"Seriously?"

"No, it was actually a friend holding them. And it was only one sock. And it wasn't wool. But there was definitely a sock."

"Okay…" Courtney followed the rest of the class out of the room. She was starting to wonder whether Lochram was really the strange one.


	5. Chapter 5: A Look Into The Future

Chapter Five

A Look Into The Future

"Okay, here," Lynne said. "There's about thirty minutes today, starting at three, when _none_ of us have any classes, but Professor Digrattus should still be teaching a fourth-year class at that time."

Normally, the three of them always had mealtimes when they were free, when students were in the Great Hall, but then there was never any chance of a different class being in session.

"Sounds good," Albus said. "We'll meet up there."

_Research the Imp-_ a voice said in the back of Courtney's mind. She immediately reached behind her and pulled on the invisible fabric.

"James!" she exclaimed.

"Courtney!" James retorted.

"Come on, you said you were done sneaking up on me and leaving mysterious messages."

"Well, don't draw attention to my Cloak when we're in the halls. You guys - and Rose, Scorpius, and Professor Longbottom - are the only ones who know I have the Cloak and use it at school."

"Professor Longbottom knows about your Cloak?" Lynne asked.

"So what was the message?" Albus asked, focusing on the important part.

"Research the Imperius Curse," James said. "I haven't the foggiest why you would need to, but Lynne already thanked me for giving Courtney the message." He looked at Lynne. "Remember next time you see me to thank me for giving her the message."

Time travel was confusing.

"I'll get to the Ravenclaw Library later," Lynne offered. "If all goes well, I should have all the answers about the Imperius Curse by tomorrow."

Courtney frowned internally. She had been hoping, when research was brought up, that they could do it in the Room of Knowledge, where they'd learned of the Founders' past.

"And next time," Courtney muttered to James. "Next time you need to give us a cryptic time paradox-y message, just tell us instead of going in invisible, like we don't already know it's you."

He thought for a moment. "You know what, sure, I'll keep that in mind." On that note, James started to walk away.

"Well," Albus said. "Looks like we've got plenty to do."

* * *

Courtney and Albus stood outside the Divination classroom, when Lynne arrived. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized. "I was at Torrindale's. You know, thanking James."

"Don't sweat it," Albus said. "Let's just take a look at what's going on here."

Courtney opened the door slightly and peered inside. Professor Digrattus, short even compared to some of the students, was carefully lecturing about Chinese fortune sticks to a class of Slytherins that was half-taking notes, half-struggling to stay awake.

Courtney silently closed the door, and the three of them walked away from the room.

"Well, that's what we have to look forward to if we take Divination next year," Lynne said.

"Seemed pretty boring," Albus noted. "Not like Professor Binns' level of boring, but still…"

"But that is just one class," Courtney reminded. "For all we know, the lessons could be more interesting than that most of the time." If there's one thing Courtney had learned from last year's trips through the Pensieve, it was that you couldn't come to a conclusion from just a first impression.

"Good point," Lynne figured. "So next we should check out Care of Magical Creatures, then Muggle Studies, then Arithmancy."

Personally, Courtney wondered how they would be able to spy on Professor Hagrid's class when they knew it always took place outdoors. Then she remembered there were probably rocks and things large enough to hide behind, and chided herself internally for questioning it in the first place.

"In the meantime, we've got our Imperius research, Albus, you have your tryout tomorrow, and to be honest I really need to practice Defense."

"Shoot, that's tomorrow?" Albus muttered. "You'd think James would've said something while he was with us…"

"Sorry," Lynne winced. "You know we'll be rooting for you, and by the time we get there -"

Lynne was interrupted by the student that came crashing through the halls with a twisted motion before finally slamming into the group. When he stopped running and started clawing at Lynne's throat, Courtney and Albus both took out their wands.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Albus exclaimed. The kid started floating against his will, away from Lynne. "_Petrificus Totalus!_" Now he stopped moving, his arms locked to his sides and his legs together.

"_Episkey_," Courtney muttered, her wand a hair from the light scratches that had formed on Lynne's neck. When she had first gotten her alder wand, she had been told specifically that it was most attuned for healing spells. Just as expected, the scratches grew lighter before vanishing altogether.

"Hey, Courtney," Albus said in realization. "Think you should take a look at this."

Floating in the air, the kid who attacked them was no longer moving. Because of this, Courtney was at last able to get a good look at his face. His eyes were blank, and his expression manic, but there was no doubt about it.

It was Elijah.

* * *

Author's Notes: Upon doing research on Firenze the centaur, I came to find that Firenze eventually left the position of Divination professor. As such, his mentions in the story up to this point have been edited and replaced with references to a Professor Digrattus. My sincere apologies for not noticing the error sooner. I would also like to apologize for the relatively long wait for this relatively short chapter.

While I'm here, I would also like to note that, as of this post, Courtney Glass and the Castle of Life now has over a thousand views. Thank you, collective fanbase, for this milestone.


	6. Chapter 6: Imperio

Chapter Six

Imperio

Although Courtney had no way of knowing this, the hospital wing was far emptier than usual, a direct result of how early in the year it still was.

"What do you need?" the woman there questioned.

"Our friend here went mad," Courtney explained, indicating Elijah. "He started running at us and attacked our other friend."

"I see," the woman said. "It appears you cast the Full Body-Bind Curse to restrain him. And I take it this young man is not normally violent. Have you informed the Headmistress or the Deputy Headmaster?"

"Not yet," Lynne admitted. "We wanted to get Elijah here really quickly, but we can talk to them…"

"I'll go," Albus offered.

"That's a good idea," she said. Albus hurried out of the room. The matron drew her wand. "Now, let's get this curse off of your friend. Both of you, have your wands ready for anything."

A burst of magic sprang forth from her wand, and Elijah started to move again. Like before, he immediately lunged to attack Lynne, only to be struck by another _Petrificus Totalus_ from Courtney.

"Hmm," the matron said aloud. She looked Elijah in the eyes. "Yes, they're fairly glazed. I would, at first guess, say that your friend is under the Imperius Curse. Obviously, the milky eyes are not present in most cases - that would ruin the Curse's effectiveness - but a poorly-done Imperius would do that."

"Why would someone Imperius him to do this?" Lynne asked.

"I don't know," the matron admitted. "I imagine your other friend is figuring that out by talking to the Headmistress. In the meantime, I will be healing him of the Imperius. I would recommend you go catch up to your friend."

Courtney and Lynne both nodded and left the room.

* * *

"_What lies at the bottom of the Heart Chasm?_" the door asked.

"Your heart's deepest desires," was Lynne's immediate answer. The door to Ravenclaw Tower opened graciously so she, Courtney, and Albus could enter.

Without missing a beat, Lynne walked to a bookshelf and picked out a single thick book. "_Curses and Counter-Curses_ by Vindictus Viridian. You think this might have anything on Imperius?"

She opened the book to the back to look through the index. "Here we are, Imperius, page 273…" She flipped the page back. "'The three Unforgivable Curses, _Cruciatus_, _Imperius_, and _Avada Kedavra_ are so named because, unlike most curses, they are legally unforgivable. The use of any of the three on a human will result in an Azkaban sentence, unless it can be proven that the caster was himself under the influence of the Imperius Curse.'

"There's a few paragraphs here about _Cruciatus_, I'm just going to skip ahead. 'The Imperius Curse, _Imperio_, allows a wizard to force his will on another. The victim is forced to do as the caster commands, without any regard for the victim's own choice in the matter.' So it's total mind control? No wonder it's illegal… 'Uniquely, this is the only of the Unforgivable Curses that can be defended against through willpower, though the number of wizards with the mental fortitude' - that means strength - 'to do so is remarkably small.'"

Courtney did not doubt that. If even Elijah could be reduced to attacking Lynne the way he had…

"'In fact, it is not unheard of for victims of the Imperius Curse to follow orders that are normally impossible, go against moral scruples, or even suicidal orders.' Well, I guess that explains Elijah. And why James wanted us to look this up…"

"It's possible to resist, though," Albus said. "So if someone's in the castle casting Imperius, I want to be able to fight it."

"Maybe I know where we can learn how to resist it," Courtney said.

* * *

"We want to learn to resist the Imperius Curse, should anyone use it on one of us," Albus said.

The door to the Room of Knowledge appeared and opened, allowing the three students to step inside.

The Room was quite different from the last time they had been inside it. Gone was the Pensieve that sat in the middle of the room, along with the green wall decorations that represented Salazar Slytherin.

In their place was mirrors all over the walls, a few creating infinite pathways with thousands of copies of Courtney, Lynne, and Albus.

A feeling of lightheaded euphoria washed over Courtney's mind. A small voice in the back whispering "_Jump_". A part of her wanted to turn around and tell James to get out from the Cloak; the rest of her simply jumped.

Courtney did not even notice that, around her, Lynne was pacing around the Room and Albus was twirling his arms around.

After a minute or two, the spell wore off, and all three of them stopped.

Courtney felt strange. It didn't feel like there was a person compelling her to act. It felt more like these were her own thoughts, that she was jumping on her own accord. It never occurred to her, until after the spell ended, that she should just _not_ go jumping. The haze that fell over her mind probably had something to do with that.

Viridian was right. The Imperius Curse was terrifying.

* * *

"Attention," Professor Vector said at the Great Hall the following morning. "Recently, it has been discovered that a student had been a victim of the Imperius Curse. As most of you should know, the Imperius Curse has Unforgivable status, and as such, is highly illegal. Effective immediately we will be performing a wand check on all students to determine if anyone here was responsible."

As if on cue, Professors Lochram, Torrindale, Longbottom, and Asmius rose from the Head Table and walked down the rows of students. Courtney looked to where Torrindale was standing. She was near Tara. Tara took out her wand, and Torrindale touched it with her own, muttering a spell that Courtney couldn't hear. Ghostly images emerged in the form of a fire that lit, then suddenly stopped. A light at the tip of her wand. A book levitating. When the images stopped, Torrindale moved on to the next Hufflepuff.

After several minutes, Torrindale reached Courtney and touched her wand. A few images of the Charm she was working on in class. Her latest failed attempts at the Patronus Charm. The _Episkey _that she had cast on Lynne before. When it ended, Torrindale moved on again.

After another while, Professor Asmius spoke up. "Looks like we have something here."

The rest of the Hall was silent as Asmius replayed a spell. There was a ghostly image of Elijah, and Courtney could hear the word _Imperio!_

"It would appear we have our culprit," Vector said. Asmius took the student from the Slytherin table and brought him toward Professor Vector.

Courtney's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she watched Scorpius Malfoy get brought to the front of the Hall.


	7. Chapter 7: Gryffindor Quidditch Tryouts

Chapter Seven

Gryffindor Quidditch Tryouts

"Scorpius?" Albus was asking. "He was… well, not the last person, but definitely not the first person I'd suspect…"

It was nearly four o'clock as Courtney, Lynne, Albus, and Rose walked toward the Quidditch field. James was already there, as were a few dozen other Gryffindors who wanted to try out for the team.

"Hey, aren't you a Ravenclaw?" asked Wes, one of Gryffindor's Beaters and the current Captain. "And a Hufflepuff?"

"Hey! They can't be here!" another Gryffindor called. "They'll spy on our strategies!"

Courtney thought that notion was pretty ridiculous, and she was grateful that Wes said as much. "This is just the tryout. We don't _have_ any strategies yet." He looked at Courtney and Lynne. "I'll admit this is pretty unconventional, but you can go ahead and watch. James, keep an eye on them to make sure they don't use magic to interfere."

James walked up to them, grinning. "Nobody else even showed up to try for the Keeper position so I don't have to try out. Unless… are either of you trying for Keeper?"

"No," Albus said. "I'm going for Chaser."

"And I'm trying out for Beater," Rose said.

James was clearly surprised. There was an image associated with Beaters, and that image was not a smaller-than-average twelve-year-old girl. But his surprise quickly turned into a laugh. "Oh, this tryout's going to _rule_!"

"Alright," Wes said. "So far, we have our Keeper and one Beater. The remainder of the team is one more Beater, one Seeker, and the three Chasers. All of you, split up into which position you want. Seekers, go over there… Chasers, on the other side… and Beaters right there." After the auditioning Gryffindors had shifted into their respective groups, Wes spoke again.

"Okay, looks like there are eight people trying for Beater, nineteen for Chaser, and… thirty-something for Seeker. Man, that's a popular position. So, we're going to start with the Beater tryouts, then Chasers, then Seekers. Beaters, front and center."

The eight would-be Beaters stepped forward. Rose looked very out of place among them; the others looked like at least fourth- or fifth-years. And most had plenty of the sheer muscle normally associated with Beaters. Wes handed a broomstick and a club to the first one, a tall sixth-year girl. "Once you get in the air, Bludgers will come after you. You know what to do."

"Count on it," she said with a giant grin. Courtney vaguely remembered seeing her face before - on last year's Gryffindor Quidditch team. Gwen. The other Beater.

"Isn't that the same girl who was a Beater last year?" Courtney asked James.

"Yeah, and she's pretty good," James replied. "And I'm pretty sure ol' Wes has a thing for her. But rules are rules. One of the others might be better than she is, and if that's the case Wes has to go for the best."

Gwen rose into the air on her broomstick and the Bludgers came. More than just two, aimed right at her. She readied her club and slammed into each Bludger at the perfect time. For all the muscle that people associated with Beaters, Courtney now started to realize that it was more important to have an eye for timing and quick reflexes, especially when that heavy ball was coming right for you or your teammates.

The Bludgers slammed into her club before being bounced back to the ground. After about fifteen of them - none of them hitting - Gwen descended.

"What do you think?" she asked, gesturing to the field. The fifteen Bludgers that she hit were all lying on the ground, arranged in the shape of a letter G. Courtney didn't know if the G was for Gwen or for Gryffindor, but was impressed anyway.

"Now that was amazing," Lynne said.

"She's showing off," James laughed.

"No, really," Lynne continued. "A Beater's job isn't just to get the Bludgers away from their teammates - they're also supposed to send them _toward_ the other team. Right there, Gwen just proved that she can not only hit them, but _aim_ them as well."

After that, the other Beaters added as much flair to their performance as they could, desperate to stand out compared to Gwen. Rose was the second-last to rise into the air.

Rose, notably, dodged the Bludgers before hitting them. That way, even if she missed - and there were two that she missed - none of them would actually hit her.

The last guy to try made sure to switch his club between his left and right hands, clearly trying to emphasize that he could play with either of them.

"Okay, and now for Chasers," Wes said.

Two of last year's Chasers were among the ones trying out here. Unlike the Beaters, who went one at a time, all nineteen potential Chasers were in the air at once, arranged in a circle with Wes at the center..

"Here's the Quaffle," he said. "A Chaser has to be able to not only make goals but to get the Quaffle from the other team. So you're going in a free-for-all. Making a shot will count toward your final score. So will holding onto the Quaffle."

The two Chasers from last year went into motion immediately. Courtney saw one of them get the Quaffle. Albus approached that one to try and steal it from him, but he tossed it to the other old Chaser, who then threw it into the goal post. On the other side, the first Chaser caught the Quaffle and went around to make the goal himself.

"They're helping each other," Courtney realized. "Using teamwork in a free-for-all to get an advantage."

James shrugged. "In a real game, they'd be expected to use teamwork. Nothing wrong with using it for tryouts. Hell, I'd call it a good thing, even."

* * *

After the Seekers concluded, Wes addressed each of them. "Alright, tomorrow morning I'll post the team roster in the common room."

They started walking away from the field. "Don't worry," Albus was saying to Rose. "I'm sure we'll do better next year."

"I don't think I'll try out next year," Rose admitted. "Maybe the year after that, when Gwen and Wes graduate."

"Hey, maybe by then _I'll_ be your captain," James said. "So, that's two down, two to go. Tomorrow Hufflepuff and Slytherin will have their tryouts… and then Hogwarts will have all of its Quidditch players for this year."

The overall pleasant conversation quickly died down when a chill came over the field. A shadowy hooded figure glided toward them, focused on one in particular.

The Dementor flew straight for Lynne.

* * *

Author's Notes: To be honest I did not expect to spend the entire chapter on the Quidditch tryouts; I thought there would be a few other things that happened after them. But I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out so I'll just leave it at that.


	8. Chapter 8: Reason For The Target

Chapter Eight

Reason For The Target

"_Ex… Ex… Expecto Patronum!_" Lynne stammered.

Courtney, Albus, Rose, and James drew their wands and twirled them. _Focus_, Courtney thought. _The Founders, the beans, the egg… _"_Expecto Patronum!_"

The silver mist of the incorporeal Patronus emerged from all of their wands. Interestingly, multiple incorporeal Patronuses actually slowed the Dementor down more than just one.

Then about a part in five of the mist vanished. In its place stood a luminescent silver staggard. It trotted forward and slammed into the Dementor. The Dementor, thoroughly repelled, left.

When they were sure it was gone, they lowered their wands. The mist disappeared. The staggard returned to James's wand before vanishing as well.

"Lynne, are you okay?" Courtney asked. The Dementor had been closer to her than any of the others. If she was suffering the effects of Dementor exposure…

"Here," Albus took something small and light brown from his bag and handed it to Lynne. "Let's hope this works." Lynne took it and placed it in her mouth. The color washed back into her face.

"Thanks," Lynne said.

"Thank god that was chocolate," Albus sighed in relief.

"Wait, you gave me a brown Every-Flavoured Bean _without knowing if it was chocolate?_"

He shrugged. "How could I know, without someone eating it? It's not my fault we buy so much of the stuff. Now, I have a question. First Elijah, now a Dementor. Why is it the worst stuff is happening to Lynne?"

They all looked at James, who raised his hands. "Hey, don't look at me. I didn't get any important paradoxes about this."

"We do have a couple options," Rose said. "Someone who _would_ know why Lynne is being targeted."

* * *

Elijah heard a knock on the door that made him sit up. Courtney Glass, Lynne Ibrams, and James Potter entered the room. "Hey, mind if we talk to you?" James asked.

"Look, Lynne, I'm really sorry, I swear I didn't mean -" Elijah started.

"It's okay. You were Imperiused," Lynne pointed out. "We were wondering… whether or not you know why I was the target?"

"I'm sorry?"

"We heard you the first time," James said. "You got a Curse that made you attack Lynne. Why did the little arachnid make you go after her in particular?"

"He didn't say," Elijah admitted. "I was ordered to kill Lynne. Under the Imperius, I couldn't question the orders."

Courtney, for the first time in her life, felt her hands curl into fists in anger. How could Scorpius do such a thing? He and Lynne were friends… He and _Courtney_ were friends. She'd trusted him…

"So, you don't know the reason?" Courtney summarized. She continued after Elijah nodded. "That's okay. We expected you might not know. That's why we had a backup plan…"

* * *

At Headmistress Vector's office, where Scorpius Malfoy was detained until his inevitable expulsion - and the loss of his wand - two second-year Gryffindors entered.

Scorpius barely raised his head to see who was walking inside. "Potter. Weasley. Fancy seein' you here." It was clearly a joke, but his tone was flat and uncaring, his heart not in the humor.

"We want answers," Albus said, equally devoid of emotion. "You turned one of our friends into a slave to try and kill another friend. Thing is, that wasn't the first or last time Lynne's been attacked this year. Tell us, why Lynne? What makes her the target?"

Scorpius shrugged.

"Scorpius, please," Rose pleaded. "You're in hot water whether you tell us or not, so it's not like this will affect you-"

"I don't know why, okay?" Scorpius shouted, loudly and incongruously enough to make Rose flinch. "I was in the Great Hall, same as you lot, when the wands were all checked. Up until then I didn't even know I was the one who cast the Curse."

"Someone took your wand and cast the Imperius with it so you'd take the blame," Rose reasoned.

"Either that or you Obliviated yourself afterward so you'd have an excuse," Albus said. "Someone comes in with Veritaserum, you get to say 'Oh, I don't remember doing these things, clearly I must have been framed'."

Scorpius looked up in thought. "I actually considered that I Obliviated myself, to be perfectly honest. But someone else taking my wand… now that, I didn't even think of."

The three wizards had their shared answers now. Scorpius may have targeted Lynne, but even he doesn't remember why. If that was the case, Albus reasoned, James, Lynne, and Courtney probably wouldn't have gotten any information from Elijah.

An idea struck him. Maybe, just maybe, they were asking the wrong questions.

* * *

Albus and Rose entered the room where Courtney, Lynne, James, and Elijah were already talking. "Perfect, you're still here," Rose said. "Elijah, do you remember _seeing_ the person who Imperiused you?"

"It was Scorpius Malfoy."

"You're sure?" she pressed. "It wasn't someone else who took Scorpius's wand?"

"Positive."

"Obliviation," Albus said. "Called it."

"Or… maybe the person who took his wand used Polyjuice," Rose countered.

"I think we've gotten to the point where you've used the word 'maybe' too many times."

"I take it you guys were as successful as we were in getting answers?" James asked.

"Yeah," Rose sighed. "So we're out of leads, I guess."

And that was when Courtney thought of something. "Maybe…" she said. "James, Rose, Elijah. How would you guys like to see the Room of Knowledge?"

* * *

"We need to know why Lynne in particular has been a target for so much Dark stuff," Albus said to the wall. The door appeared in front of them. Rose and Elijah, who'd never seen it before, were taken aback slightly, before remembering that they _were_ in Hogwarts, after all.

"For the record, this place is actually called the Room of Requirement," James pointed out. "Not the Room of Knowledge."

The Pensieve that had been present the first few times Courtney and her friends were in the room was now back. Hanging on the back wall was a portrait of a wizard holding a wand in his hand. In between the portrait and the Pensieve was a teacup floating in the air.

"Salutations," the wizard in the portrait said. "My name is Cartesius, and I have been summoned here for the first time in two centuries to aid you here today." He put his wand down on the painted table beside him, and the floating teacup fell with a _crash_.

"I didn't know pictures could cast spells," Elijah said.

"Oh, photographs cannot," Cartesius said. "But portraits can! Now, time is a-wasting. Into the past, you go!"

The six wizards approached the Pensieve. Courtney, Lynne, and Albus immediately dipped their heads into the bright liquid. James, Rose, and Elijah copied them.

And then all six were in the past.


	9. Chapter 9: Olive

Chapter Nine

Olive

They were back in Hogwarts, in one of the first floor corridors.

A black-haired girl with lightly-tanned skin who looked to be somewhere around fifth year strolled with purpose down the hall.

"I think that's who we're supposed to be paying attention to," Albus said, pointing to the girl.

"When are we?" James asked. He was used to time travel, but not nearly this far back.

"Who knows?" Lynne asked. "This is just a memory, so we can't interact or ask anyone what year it is. We're going to have to figure it out ourselves. It might be easier if we listen for names, so we can look them up later."

"Wait, something's happening," Elijah said.

Another girl, a brunette with facial acne and glasses, had just left a bathroom carrying a small stack of books. She looked up and saw the girl that the group had already decided to pay attention to. With a look of horror, she turned around and tried to go into the bathroom again.

But she couldn't go back quickly enough. The first girl had grabbed her by the back of her collar, making her drop her books. "What's the matter? Scared to see me? How _could_ you see me, with those giant glasses of yours?"

The brunette just stood there quietly, on the verge of tears. Courtney could tell this was not the first time these two had interacted like this.

"Olive," a guy's voice said, approaching the two girls. "Knock it off."

The guy who walked up to them was astonishingly good-looking. Tall, with dark hair and eyes, and emitting a vibe of confidence.

Olive weighed her options and decided that messing with the other girl was not worth it. "See you later," she said ominously as she left.

"Thank you," the other girl muttered to the boy, looking down shily.

"Don't mention it," he replied. He knelt down to pick up the fallen books, then hand them back to the girl. "Here you go."

"Talk about smooth," James said, his arms folded. "I mean, I probably wouldn't give her a six, but that was textbook right there."

"But that's a good point," Rose admitted. "Why would he get on Olive's bad side for this other girl's sake?"

"Maybe they're already friends?" Courtney suggested.

"I don't know about you," Lynne said. "But from where I'm standing, she looks pretty surprised that her knight in shining armor came to the rescue. I doubt they were already friends before, or at least not close friends."

"So we've got three people we're paying attention to here," Albus said. "We still don't know what this has to do with Dark magic, or with Ly-"

* * *

They were abruptly taken back to the present. When they emerged from the Pensieve, there was a dark air around the Room of Requirement.

Another Dementor.

It opened its arms toward Courtney. "_Expecto Patronum!_" Elijah shouted. It was incorporeal, but still slowed the Dementor considerably.

"My word, a Dementor. _Expecto Patronum_." A silver angelfish came from Cartesius's wand, out of the portrait, and swam through the air until it collided with the Dementor. By this point, James had his wand out.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" The staggard returned. The Dementor saw that it was outnumbered by the two Patronuses, and immediately left.

"That time the Dementor wasn't going for Lynne," Courtney realized. "It was going for me."

"No, I would say not," Cartesius agreed, a glimmer in his eyes. "So what is your conclusion from that information?"

"That Scorpius was aiming for Lynne, but the Dementors don't care," Albus replied.

Cartesius winced. "Oh, so close, yet so far. How about this: How do you suppose a Dementor got into the Room of Requirement in the first place? Or how it had anything to do with the flashback you just witnessed?"

"We need to know more about the Dementors," Lynne concluded. "I could check the library…"

"Wait," Rose said. "I think I know somewhere better to look."

* * *

"Can we talk to you about something?" James asked Professor Lochram.

"But of course!" Lochram exclaimed. "Go forth, Potter. Tell me what you need."

"It's about Dementors," Courtney said. "Professor Vector said at the beginning of the year that you were attacked by fourteen of them."

"Fifteen, now, actually," he noted. "One of the foul monsters managed to strike even on Hogwarts grounds."

"Courtney and I have each been attacked twice now," Lynne told him. "We wanted to know if you had any idea why some people are being attacked by Dementors more than others."

"Polaris is still freaking out because she's the only Hufflepuff in our year whose family hasn't gotten attacked," Elijah added.

"Well, I would be lying if I said I have not looked into it," Lochram said. "And a liar I refuse to be! Normally, Dementors are drawn to the people who've had the greatest horrors in their pasts. These are the people who are most vulnerable to them, and oft the ones who cannot cast the Patronus Charm."

"But we haven't had any major horrors," Lynne said. "And you can make a Patronus, yet you've gotten more attacks than any of us."

"Indeed," Lochram said. "And curiously, Professor Longbottom has confided that in his life he has never cast a corporeal Patronus, and the heavens only know the demons of his past, yet he has not been a victim even once of this outbreak. Therefore, I am led to believe that this is a Darker force - that someone is out there commanding the Dementors to go after specific targets, myself and you children included. But why us? Alas, there I am as lost as you."

Courtney thought about what Cartesius said before. This had to have something to do with the flashback they were watching, but what? Olive had seemed, at least at the end, like the sort of person who _might_ grow up to cause problems like these for innocent people. But that still didn't explain why she was targeting Professor Lochram and the others… Unless Lochram was the boy in the Pensieve…

So did this mean the LMM was really uninvolved? Or were they connected to Olive? And what did any of this have to do with Scorpius and the Imperius Curse? Courtney's head was starting to hurt from all the different pieces of information that just didn't add up.

"Thanks for the help," Rose said. "If we find anything out, you'll be the first to know."


	10. Chapter 10: New Addition

Chapter Ten

New Addition

"Who can tell me the properties of Mandrake root?" Professor Longbottom asked the mixed class.

It was a Slytherin girl that Courtney recognized as Natalya who answered. "Mandrake is the primary ingredient of a potion that restores people who've been Transfigured or Cursed back to their original form."

This was not the first time Hufflepuff and Slytherin shared a class, but it was the first one since Scorpius was expelled.

"That is correct," Longbottom said. "Now, who can tell me why I have several pairs of earmuffs sitting on this table?"

"Because you can't cast _Muffliato_?" a Slytherin boy suggested.

"Yes, but no. You're on the right track, though. So tell me why I would have either earmuffs, _or_ the Muffliato Charm, or the Quieting Charm?"

"Because the cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," Glenn said. "Except for the seedlings, which will just knock you out."

"Excellent. Fifteen points to Slytherin, for Natalya and Tyrese, and ten points to Hufflepuff, for Glenn."

* * *

After class ended and Courtney wrote her name on the pot with her Mandrake in it, the students started to leave.

"Hey, so which goblin rebellion are you doing for your essay in History?" Yasmine was asking anyone who would answer.

"The 18th century rebellion," Natalya said. "It's the most well-documented one, so it's pretty easy to find information."

"Thanks," Yasmine said, turning toward the library.

"So I take it you're the resident smart girl of Slytherin House?" Felipe questioned politely.

"Not always, but I am now. Lately I've been taking twice as many notes as I used to, and that's been pretty helpful for absorbing information."

Felipe accepted that without question, but the exact phrasing led Courtney to ask, "Those extra notes… They're for Scorpius, aren't they?"

She nodded hesitantly. "Guilty. He's been _expelled_, Glass. The only way he's going to learn this stuff is for someone to bring notes to him."

Courtney considered that and nodded. "You're a good friend, you know that?"

"Wow, a Hufflepuff is calling _me_ a good friend. That's valuable."

"Say… you know Scorpius pretty well, right? Do you have any idea why he might have decided to Imperius Elijah?"

Natalya shook her head. "I don't even know where he _learned_ the Imperius Curse, unless his parents taught him. Why? Do you… know anything?" Her voice turned hopeful.

"Not yet," Courtney admitted. "But Elijah and I, and a few others, are trying to figure it out. We know it has something to do with the Dementors that have been attacking everyone, and with a few former students. Other than that, we haven't figured out what any of those things has to do with each other." Courtney didn't feel the need to mention her suspicions that the LMM and Professor Lochram might be involved as well.

Natalya nodded, processing everything. "That's more than I had figured out. Can I ask where you got your information?"

* * *

"Hope you don't mind, I brought someone," Courtney told Lynne, Albus, Rose, and Elijah.

"Aren't you one of Malfoy's friends?" Albus questioned.

"I'm here for the same reason you are. To find out why he Imperiused you." She looked at Elijah at the end. "Glass said it had to do with the Dementors that have started attacking some people."

"Some?" Elijah coughed. "Almost everyone in our year has gotten attacked!"

"Really? In Slytherin House only about seven of us have gotten attacks."

_Slytherin has been protected from the Dementors_, Courtney thought. She did not suspect Slytherin itself; she knew from her experiences last year that its bad reputation was somewhat undeserved. But… that was Scorpius's House…

Suddenly, James appeared in front of them. "Hey, good news. Gryffindor's going to win the match against Slytherin in two hours." Then he saw Natalya. "Who-?"

"She's with us," Lynne summarized. She stepped toward the wall. "Now that we're here… We need to return to the Pensieve from last time we were here."

The door to the Room of Requirement appeared and opened itself. The seven wizards entered.

"Welcome back," Cartesius told the group. "And salutations to the latest addition to your party."

"This is Cartesius," Rose introduced, pointing to the portrait for Natalya's benefit.

James clapped his hands together. "So, we going or what?" He led the way to the Pensieve and entered. The others followed.

* * *

The boy and girl from before were present again. Courtney looked closely at the boy to see his similarities to Professor Lochram. His hair was much darker, but could easily have been dyed or charmed. Come to think of it, what if he was a Metamorphmagus like Teddy? That was unlikely, but it _would_ make everything more complicated.

They were no longer in a hallway, but in a dark room that Courtney had never been in before.

"You sure you don't need anything else?" the girl asked.

"Thank you, but I'm good. Really." The boy smiled. "You should probably get back to Ravenclaw Tower before someone notices you were gone."

"So the girl's a Ravenclaw," Lynne noted. "That's got to be an important detail."

"The boy is probably a Slytherin, then," Natalya said. "This is Slytherin's common room."

_So that's not him, then,_ Courtney realized. Professor Lochram was the Head of Ravenclaw House. He couldn't have been a Slytherin.

The girl left, and the boy opened a drawer. He took out a journal and a quill, and started to write.

"While that's getting done, here's what I noticed," Elijah said. "The girl asked if he needed anything _else_. That means she was already helping him with something. Question is, what?"

James opened his mouth to answer, then decided against it.

The scene changed, showing the girl leaving the Hogwarts Library with a book in her hand, stumbling a few times. She was going through a route unfamiliar to Courtney, but thankfully Natalya provided the information again.

"That's the path to the Slytherin dorm," she said. Courtney guessed that Natalya, as the only Slytherin in the group, felt the need to be the one to explain these things.

The boy from before walked in the opposite direction, toward the girl. "You got it?"

The girl nodded, smiling brightly. Courtney could not help but notice that, even though her face had not cleared and her hair was still a mess, the girl somehow actually looked quite pretty when she was smiling for once.

The scene shifted twice, once to pure blackness, and then instantly to the image of a familiar face. "Olive," Rose said.

"Just so you know, this is a bad sign," Albus told James, Rose, Elijah, and Natalya. "Last year, once the Pensieve started speeding up it went into pure chaos."

"This is going to be the nastiest part," Courtney agreed.

"Excellent!" James exclaimed as the chaos began.


	11. Chapter 11: He's Back

Chapter Eleven

He's Back

Olive took the girl's glasses off her face. "Give those back!" the girl cried.

A scene change. The girl was sitting in a bathroom stall when there was a knock on the door. "Go away!"

Another scene change. The boy just standing outside the bathroom, smiling and holding two books - the book that the girl had gotten from the library a couple scenes ago, and his own journal.

Then Olive entering the bathroom and screaming, for some reason.

Then suddenly, they were no longer even in Hogwarts. Instead, they were standing in front of Olive, only she was significantly older, and wearing simple white dress robes rather than her Hogwarts robe. A pale image of the girl from before appeared before them.

Again, the scene changed. The boy was now standing, in the dungeons of Hogwarts, holding a thin brown object that did not look quite like a wand, though it was too dark to make out the details.

"Thank you," the boy said, even though no one could hear. "You were quite helpful, even if you were a Mudblood, Myrtle."

* * *

They were suddenly forced out of the Pensieve. This time, there was no Dementor. Rather, the flashback was simply over.

"I can't believe I didn't recognize her," James said. "That girl… that was Moaning Myrtle, the ghost that haunts one of the girls' bathrooms."

Now that Courtney thought about it, she could barely remember a brief encounter with the ghost last year. "So then who was the boy?"

The color drained from James's face. "I only know of two guys who went to school at the same time as Myrtle. Professor Hagrid… and Lord Voldemort."

"But Voldemort's dead," Rose pointed out. "Our parents defeated him."

"'Dumbledore, Potter, Weasley, Granger, Longbottom, Crabbe, and the Dark Lord himself'," James recited. "Yes, I know oldie Voldy is long gone, but clearly Hogwarts and the Room of Requirement think his and Myrtle's story was important enough to show us."

"Then maybe this has something to do with Myrtle," Albus suggested. "If she only haunts that one bathroom, then we can go there and talk to her."

"Quite," Cartesius said. "As a matter of fact, among other things, that bathroom is the entrance to Slytherin's own Chamber of Secrets."

"I know the one," Courtney offered. Before she could offer to lead the way, Natalya spoke up.

"It's on the first floor. Follow me."

They bid Cartesius a farewell, then left the Room of Requirement. As if to mock her, Courtney's memories drifted straight to the Sorting Hat. _You follow others always, and never lead._

_I was going to lead this time. Natalya was just… faster._

_Uh-huh_, she imagined the Hat's voice say disapprovingly. _Suuuure_.

* * *

When they arrived at the bathroom, Lynne spoke to James. "James, you need to go ahead without us."

James didn't question it. He already knew the reason. He entered the bathroom, and, right behind Lynne, another James took off his Invisibility Cloak.

"Okay, somehow we were wrong," James said gravely. "My younger self will be talking to Myrtle any second now. I don't know how, but somehow Voldemort is back and he's in the Slytherin dungeon."

"Is he a ghost?" Courtney asked.

"Can't be," Natalya said. "His soul was torn to shreds so finely that by the time he died he was no longer _capable_ of becoming a ghost."

"Can I ask how this makes sense?" Lynne questioned. "There were a bunch of Dark things happening, and Voldemort was a Dark Lord. But even if he's back, how does that explain the Dementor attacks, or Scorpius and Elijah, or why some students - and Professor Lochram - are being targeted more than others."

"He can make deals with Dementors," Elijah remembered. "That's what he did in the last war, twenty years ago. If he's back, he could totally be controlling them, getting them to attack the people he wants dead… or worse."

"Lynne's parents," Courtney realized. "They're both Muggleborn. And both of Elijah's parents are Muggles, and my Da's a Muggle…"

"Voldemort was a pureblood supremacist," Natalya said.

"That explains why Polaris was the only Hufflepuff in our year who was never attacked," Elijah said. "Because she, and her parents, and _their_ parents were all purebloods… Which also explains what Natalya said about how there were less attacks in Slytherin. Because Slytherin House has more purebloods than any of the others. And Albus, James, and Rose… you guys were attacked because Voldemort _despises_ your parents."

"Looks like we've got it figured out," Albus said. "Natalya, can you lead us to the Slytherin dungeon?"

"Right now?" she asked. "I could, but do we really want to face _Lord Voldemort_ so soon? We should really get ourselves prepared first. Study up on Voldemort, make a game plan…"

"Are you sure you're Slytherin and not Ravenclaw?" Lynne joked.

"So that's the plan," James said. "For right now, I'll get back to the team. The rest of you, do whatever. In, let's say a week, we'll meet up and go to face Lord Voldemort."

* * *

Compared to the memories in the Pensieve, Professor Binns's account of wizarding history was remarkably bland. Then again, Binns's classes were bland even compared to the one Every-Flavored bean she'd once had that was _air_-flavored.

Thankfully, class ended and Courtney walked with the rest of the Hufflepuffs to Professor Lochram's class.

It was a double lesson, with the Ravenclaw students. The two Houses of second-years entered the room to find Lochram and Potter waiting for them.

"Alright, by this point you know the drill," Potter said. "This time, Professor Lochram and I will be looking around to help out anyone who's still having trouble."

It was tough for Courtney to think of anything besides _Voldemort's back_. It was terrifying, and it made no sense. But if he _was_ back, for the third time, how does anyone know that this will at least be the _last_ time?

She tried focusing on more positive things. Natalya working extra hard to help her expelled friend. The kindness Voldemort had shown Myrtle, before he betrayed her and Courtney knew that is was a lie, that is. Cartesius helping to steer Courtney and her friends in the right direction. The whole team working together to figure out the clues.

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

Yet again, mist. Nothing corporeal. Nothing that would actually stop a Dementor in its path. Why was Courtney having so much trouble with a spell powered by happiness? She was happy most of the time…

After a while, Potter came to her to help. "Okay, what happy memories are you thinking of?" he asked.

"Conversations with my friends," she said. "Bertie Bott's Every-Flavored Beans. The overall human kindness around me." Then, with a smile, she added, "No socks, though. You think that would help?"

Potter shrugged. "I doubt it. My sock memory involves saving one of my old friends. If you've never actually saved a friend with nothing but a sock, then it won't be all that helpful."

Courtney gripped her wand tightly. "How is this so difficult? Even without a Dementor making it harder?"

"Calm yourself. A Patronus won't work if you're frustrated. Let's try something else. Think of the things that are making you upset, but stay calm. If you can keep calm, even with the more painful thoughts, then the actually happy memories will produce the Patronus more easily. It's weird, but it's been tested."

"But, Mr. Potter, the troubles aren't exactly of the memory variety," she said quietly. This was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. If she couldn't trust _him_ with this information… "I think Lord Voldemort's back."

A flash of surprise appeared on Potter's face. When he spoke, his voice was unchanged, not wanting to frighten the other students. "If I were anyone else, I'd say that's impossible, but the impossible tends to be fairly normal in my experience. What makes you think so?"

"James told me."

He folded his arms in thought. "My son? He does take after his mother's side of the family with the jokes and everything… But this isn't something even he would joke about… And if anyone were to know, it _would_ be James… Alright, I understand. Make no rash decisions. I'll talk to James after class."

And just like that, one of the greatest wizards in the world was at their side.


	12. Chapter 12: The Enemies

Chapter Twelve

The Enemies

Author's Note: I made a mistake at the beginning of the month, accidentally re-uploading chapter four instead of bringing chapter eleven. My apologies, and a special thank-you to MidnightGoddess2112 for pointing this out to me. In the future, I will do my best to make sure this does not happen again.

* * *

The seven young wizards met up at Myrtle's bathroom. For some reason, Albus was holding a small pot.

"I've got information," Natalya said. "Apparently Voldemort had made some Dark artifacts that render him immortal. They were destroyed, but if even one of them survived that might explain how he's back."

"Nope," James said. "I've heard this story a million times, and Voldemort definitely only made seven of them, and his death wouldn't have worked if he had still been immortal."

"I got more information," Lynne offered. "The Chamber of Secrets, located in this very bathroom, will open just by saying the word _open_ in Parseltongue. If one of us Imperiuses a snake - which is actually totally legal, as it turns out - then it can open the chamber."

"I got some flobberworms," Albus said, lifting the pot. "I got them from Hagrid. Voldemort's main weapon of choice is the Killing Curse. If we each take some of these, we can use them as shields. As long as the Curse doesn't actually touch any of us, we'll be alright."

"I got some help," Courtney said. "I told Mr. Potter about Voldemort and he said he would help us defeat him."

"I've got bad news," Elijah said. "According to someone… James, is that you? Whatever. Apparently, when we go down to the Slytherin dungeon, we won't just be facing Voldemort. Scorpius Malfoy somehow got back in."

"And I've got some emergency supplies," Rose said. "Straight from Dad and Uncle George. Peruvian Instant-Darkness Powder, portable Shield Charms, and a Sneakoscope."

"Right then," James said. "So we're either getting a move on, or waiting for my father to show up so he can save the day."

_Let them know that he won't be coming_, James's invisible voice told Courtney.

"Paradox James says Mr. Potter isn't coming," Courtney said, frowning. That was her only contribution…

"Well, why not?" Natalya asked. Courtney could only shrug in response.

"I vote we go," Elijah said. "We got prepared for it. Now let's take Malfoy down."

"Take _Voldemort_ down," Rose corrected.

"Yeah, sure, him too."

* * *

"Anyone else totally terrified?" Lynne asked.

Everyone except James nodded in agreement. "Yeah," Courtney said. "We're six second-years and one fourth-year walking right toward what's probably an immortal Dark wizard. Who wouldn't be scared?"

"Remember to keep your flobberworms up," Albus said. "The Killing Curse stops once it's killed something, so these things can and probably will save our lives."

_Probably_ save their lives. Or quite possibly turn them into another ghost story wandering with Myrtle around Hogwarts.

Before them, three Dementors emerged from the ground. James, taking the lead, whipped out his wand and spun it in his hand. "_Expecto Patronum!_" The shining light of the silver staggard slammed into the Dementors one by one.

"Man, that's bright," Rose said. "I wonder what would happen if someone used a Deluminator on a Patronus."

"Three Dementor guards is too many to be a coincidence," Albus said. "Looks like we're going the right way."

The sound of hissing in the distance. The group approached, their footsteps getting slower and slower as if to delay the final confrontation.

Around a corner, a shout of "_Stupefy!_" and the flash of a spell. There was no mistaking that voice. It was Scorpius.

Scorpius walked into their line of sight and took a look at them. Then he pointed his wand straight at Lynne. "_Avada-_"

James pointed his wand at Scorpius. "_Sectum-_"

Courtney and Albus simultaneously raised their wands. "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Courtney cried as Albus shouted "_Expelliarmus!_"

James's wand flew out of his hand and hit the ground. Scorpius's wand flew out of his hand and stayed in the air.

"Really?" Albus demanded. "That spell from the old Potions book?"

"It said 'For enemies'. And that's what Malfoy is. An enemy. An enemy, mind you, who was going to use an Unforgivable on me."

"So you use _Expelliarmus!_" Albus shouted. "Not some spell that you have no idea what it does. That's the _first_ thing Dad told us!"

Courtney remembered the first time Mr. Potter had shown up for Defense Against the Dark Arts. He had insisted on never using magic unless you were a hundred and ten percent positive that it wasn't Dark magic that you would regret later. That spell James was using… it started with _Sectum_… was that another bit of Dark magic lying around where the sons of the head of the Auror division could find it?

"I'm sorry," James said. "I just… It won't happen again."

"Scorpius," Rose said. "Why are you doing this? You realize you're helping Lord Voldemort himself, right?"

Scorpius didn't answer. Instead, he raised his hand to try and take his floating wand back. Courtney moved it out of the way.

"Scorpius Malfoy," an icy voice said from the darkness. "You can stop for now. I see them."

"It's him. Get the worms ready," Albus ordered the rest of the group.

"_Accio Mudbloods_," Voldemort's voice said. Lynne and Elijah started moving forward against their will, as though carried by invisible hands.

"No!" Courtney shouted. She grabbed Lynne's hand and started pulling her the other way. Natalya ran to Elijah to restrain him.

"It's okay," James assured. "We're all going to get out of this just fine. I already told myself that."

"_Accio time traveler's hair_," Voldemort said. A chunk of James's hair was ripped from his head and flew past Lynne and Elijah. "This will make the perfect disguise for Scorpius or one of my other assistants…"

_Polyjuice Potion…_ Courtney realized. Voldemort was going to kill them, make Polyjuice from James's hair, then disguise one of his henchmen as James in order to trick them into coming down here without any backup.

Aloud, she said, "Other assistants?"

"Indeed. My Dementors have been astonishingly helpful in bringing people to help me."

As if on cue, another pair of Dementors sprouted from the ground.

"_Expelliarmus,_" Voldemort's voice said, knocking the wand from James's hand. "I must hand it to my old nemesis, using other spells besides the Killing Curse is remarkably useful."

"How are you back?" Natalya questioned. Buying time.

"Back? No, child. I have been here this entire time, waiting for over twenty years for the right time. _Lumos._"

The dungeon lit up, revealing… a dead end corridor. Nobody standing there. Just a stone wall, with a portrait of Lord Voldemort watching over them.


	13. Chapter 13: Castor Fiber

Chapter Thirteen

Castor fiber

"Mr. Potter," came the panting voice. Harry saw the Hufflepuff girl who had talked to him after class a few times standing there. "The others, they already went ahead."

"Who went ahead, and where?"

"Albus, and James, and Rose, and a few others," Courtney said. "They went looking for You-Know-Who in the Chamber of Secrets."

"What?" Harry stood up. "They were supposed to wait for me…"

"That's what I told them. Please, I came back here because we need you. None of us is anywhere near a match for him, not like you or Longbottom."

Harry nodded. "Thank you. You did the right thing, coming to talk to me about this." He looked at Professor Lochram. "Vander, I've got some work to get done. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Harry Potter left the Defense classroom, followed closely by Courtney, or, rather, by the Polyjuiced servant of Voldemort.

* * *

"I guess this answers that one last piece of the puzzle," Lynne said. "The one question that none of us even bothered asking. The Room of Requirement had shown us everything we needed to see… and that included Cartesius. The Room summoned him so that we'd know a portrait was involved."

"And to let us know that portraits could cast spells," Albus said. "We really were stupid, coming into this."

"So what happens now?" Courtney questioned.

"Now?" Elijah asked. "Either Voldy or Scorpius hits us with the Killing Curse, or the Dementors get us, or we find a way out. Personally, I know which option I prefer."

"No, Mudblood, those are not the only options," Voldemort said with a grin. "Like I said, I've stopped relying too much on the Killing Curse." He pointed his painted wand at Lynne. "_Imperio!_"

Lynne stopped moving for a moment, then picked up James's wand and faced Courtney. "_Crucio_," she said, completely without emotion.

Sheer agony. Courtney felt like her ribcage was being split open, with a small earthquake shaking the pieces. Her blood heated as if on fire, searing her from the inside out. Slashes upon her arms, her neck, her eyes. To finish the torture, a splinter under each fingernail.

"Lynne! Courtney!" Albus cried. "_Expelliarmus!_" The wand flew from Lynne's hand, and Courtney's pain ended. It was quickly replaced by the empty dread from the nearby Dementors.

Lynne didn't let her disarming deter her. She ran at Courtney and attacked her throat with her bare hands, just as Elijah had done to Lynne herself before.

"You see how quickly the Mudblood betrays you?" Voldemort asked, amused. "Almost as quickly as Malfoy."

_Malfoy?_ Courtney realized.

"You Imperiused Scorpius," Rose finished. "That's why he did those awful things. And you were the one who Obliviated him afterwards, weren't you?"

Voldemort's grin grew wider, answering her question.

"He-elp," Courtney gasped, reminding the others of her and Lynne.

She took Lynne's hands in her own, trying to pry them off. Lynne's grip weakened, and she finally stopped. Lynne turned around, drew her own wand, and shouted "_Bombarda!_" at Voldemort.

The resulting explosion knocked the portrait to the ground, though Voldemort himself was unfazed. At least, he was unfazed by the explosion. "How is that possible? A Mudblood broke the Imperius Curse?"

"You can go on and on about blood purity," Natalya said. "At this point, we don't care."

"You dare…?"

"Yes, we dare!" Courtney exclaimed. "Yeah, Lynne's Muggleborn. Doesn't matter. Her _heart_ is a thousand times purer than your blood will _ever_ be!" She looked around at Albus, Rose, James, Elijah, Natalya, and even Scorpius. "And that actually goes for all of us."

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Voldemort screamed. Courtney threw a handful of flobberworms at the spell. The worms hit the ground, one of them dead.

A Dementor closed in around Courtney and lowered its hood. Courtney felt her energy being sucked away.

_No, not now_. Lynne was strong enough to break the Imperius. Scorpius was innocent - the textbook had explicitly said that using an Unforgivable was not punishable if there was proof that the caster was under the Imperius Curse. They had _Lord Voldemort himself_ a screaming lunatic. None of them were through yet.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_" A gleaming silver beaver emerged from the tip of Courtney's wand. It chomped with its impressive teeth toward the Dementor closest to Courtney. The Dementor fled, followed swiftly by the remaining one.

James picked up his fallen wand. "_Petrificus Totalus._" Scorpius Malfoy's arms locked to his sides.

"_Avada Kedavra! Avada Kedavra! Avada Kedavra!_" Voldemort screamed. Flashes of bright green light shot through the room.

* * *

Harry stood in the girls' bathroom with Courtney and Professor Asmius. "Are you certain this will work?" Asmius questioned.

"Not entirely," Harry admitted. "I'm not a Parselmouth anymore, but Ron Weasley was able to get in just by imitating it. Just remember to change me back as soon as it's open."

Asmius nodded. She touched her wand to Harry's shoulder. With a burst of wordless magic, Harry was gone. In his place was a pale green garden snake. "_Hehssh-shhah-sieethh_," the snake that was once Harry hissed.

Suddenly, the sinks started moving, revealing the entrance to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets.

* * *

"You know, I am getting sick of you using those useless beasts as shields," Voldemort said angrily.

"Did you just call them useless immediately after saying we were using them?" Lynne questioned.

"_Accio spine!_" Lynne was forcibly turned around, the bones in her back being magically drawn to Voldemort. No matter how much she resisted the spell, her spine threatened to tear right out of her.

"_Accio portrait!_" Natalya cried. The portrait of Voldemort fell and hit the ground with an anticlimactic _thud_. Lynne was flung face-up on top of the portrait.

Scorpius continued struggling against the Full-Body Bind.

"Stop it," Rose said, not even expecting that to work. For good measure, she slapped Scorpius in the face.

"What the-?" he sputtered. "Weasley? Wait… where's the Dark…?"

"The portrait's upside-down," James said. "Can't cast any spells if he's forced to constantly face the ground."

"May I do the honors?" Scorpius asked. Without waiting for permission, he pointed his wand at the fallen portrait. "_Incendio_."

The portrait caught fire, the canvas slowly turning black.

"There, now that little adventure is over and done with," Scorpius said. He started to walk away. The others walked with him, none of them noticing that Voldemort had left and gone to another portrait, elsewhere.

* * *

Author's Note: Yeah… I'll admit this is seriously freaking dark. The idea of using Accio on a person's bones or internal organs has always been tossed around as a brutal method of killing someone. Obviously, it can be countered by having the victim actually move the rest of their body so that the Summoning Charm doesn't actually tear them apart. That said, it is still a legitimate way to kill someone who is, for whatever reason, immune to the Killing Curse.

Part of what I was going for in CG was for the older characters to learn from their past mistakes. Harry is making sure kids in DADA learn that you should NOT test out a spell labelled "For enemies" without knowing what it does. Whenever Avada Kedavra doesn't work, Voldemort uses other spells that might actually work. Neville is acting as the primary reasonable authority figure in Hogwarts. Hagrid has not been hatching dragons lately. Even though they have not yet appeared, you should later see this same pattern in characters like Ron, Hermione, Luna, Draco, McGonagall, and a certain _surprise _character who has a major role in the next installment…


	14. Chapter 14: Could Have, But Didn't

Chapter Fourteen

Could Have, But Didn't

"How did you know?" the Ravenclaw boy asked. He didn't know which of the people in the room he was asking - either Potter, Asmius, or Vector.

"Well, when Courtney talked to me after class to let me know Voldemort was back, she actually called him Voldemort," Potter said. "Never once called him 'You-Know-Who' like you did. When people start acting out of character, Polyjuice and Imperius are the go-to answers. And in this case, it looks like it was both. Not the real Courtney, and not the real Samuel either."

"Did you expect the Head of the Auror Department to not recognize when Dark magic is being used?" Asmius asked drily.

There was a knock on the door, and a group of students entered.

"There's something you should know," James Potter said.

* * *

Vector stood in the front of the Great Hall. "I would like to make a few announcements. Earlier this year, Scorpius Malfoy was expelled for casting the Imperius Curse on a fellow student. Since then, it has been proven that he had done so only under the influence of the Imperius Curse himself. As a result, he is now officially a student here once again. Thankfully, one of his classmates has kept his notes up to date, so he has not fallen behind."

Scorpius cast Natalya a meaningful look.

"Moreover, the cause of the recent Dementor outbreak has been discovered and neutralized. Professor Lochram will continue teaching the Patronus Charm early, but the Dementors themselves will no longer be as significant a threat."

Polaris gave an audible sigh of relief.

"Lastly, for their efforts in helping the school, I am awarding forty-five points to Gryffindor, for James Potter, Rose Weasley, and Albus Potter. Thirty points to Hufflepuff for Elijah Garvin and Courtney Glass. Thirty points to Slytherin for Natalya Flint and Scorpius Malfoy. And thirty points to Ravenclaw for Lynne Ibrams and Myrtle Warren."

Courtney was only mildly surprised to hear that Myrtle was earning points for her House. But she floated there, smiling sheepishly, as the other Hogwarts ghosts clapped for her. Courtney guessed this was the nicest anyone had been to her in the seventy-five years she'd been a ghost, _or_ in the fifteen or so years before then.

For a moment she wondered if Cartesius should have been included, if Myrtle was. What House _had_ he been in all those centuries ago? Come to think of it, he only said that this was his first time in the Room of Requirement in two centuries. Did he even _go_ to Hogwarts as a kid? It felt strange that, after helping them out so much, Courtney knew so little about him. They may not even see him again, now that the threat of Voldemort was gone.

For now, though, Courtney could just enjoy the victory.

* * *

"Sorry we thought you were the enemy," Courtney told Scorpius when the noise died down some.

"No need," he replied. "I _was_ the enemy, after all."

"You were under the Imperius Curse. You didn't have a choice."

"Didn't I? Ibrams was able to break the Curse in a minute. I let it control me long enough to hurt her, and Garvin, and you, and the brothers Potter, and Weasley, and Natalya. I let him force me to use _two_ Unforgivable Curses, and I started the third."

"We looked it up ahead of time. It takes a lot of willpower and mental strength to resist the Imperius Curse."

"Yeah," he said bitterly. "Strength and willpower that she could muster up at a moment's notice, but I couldn't even try to get in all the time he was controlling me."

"Even Elijah couldn't resist it until we brought him to the matron…"

"He was Imperiused to do the same thing I was Imperiused to do. Kill Muggleborn students. Difference is, he never raised a wand to do it. Even when he was attacking Ibrams, he was holding back." He raised his hands. "You think I was innocent, and I don't think so. It's clear neither of us is going to convince the other, so I'll be off."

* * *

"I think I found something," a man muttered.

One of his coworkers, the only one in earshot, looked at the map where he was pointing. "Well?" she asked. "What is it?"

"It's apparently called something along the lines of… Hog-something. It's in or around Scotland. You think this might be the place?"

"It very well could be," she replied with a smile. "Let the others know. We may have a target."

* * *

Author's Notes: Thank you for staying with Courtney for another adventure. I've noticed that this installment was shorter than the first one. Makes sense since the chapters are longer and I chose to get started on the action right away, but it's still a surprise.

Now, this story is a concept that I pondered for a while - a portrait of Voldemort giving orders to others in the castle. Another story idea that I found online and found interesting was the idea of a romance between Tom Riddle and Moaning Myrtle - the whole forbidden aspect of blood purist/Muggleborn combined with adding a layer of betrayal to his inevitably murdering her… it was intriguing. Seeing as how neither plot was directly related to Courtney Glass's morally ambiguous main plot of the Light Magic Movement, I decided to put both of them into a single story rather than taking up too much of the series, and then use it for character development for characters like Rose and Scorpius. The fact that I was able to introduce Cartesius even earlier than I'd planned was a bonus.

Like before, I'm posting the first chapter of the next installment at the same time as this one. It's called "Courtney Glass and the Faction of Light", and can be found here: www,fanfiction,net/s/11232223/1/Courtney-Glass-and-the-Faction-of-Light (change the commas to periods)


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